I must preface this post by saying that my pictures for February’s Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day are cheating a bit, since most of my flower pictures are of brand spankin’ new plants that I just spent far too much money on at Barton Springs Nursery. You see, if I subtract the two P’s– new purchases and pansies– I’m left with the gloriousness that is…

*drumroll*

WHOOHOO, the verbena is blooming!

So, yeah, I’m thinking that I’ll pad this post out a bit.

I just got some perennial dianthus and some more verbena. I hear that this particular dianthus smells like cloves when it blooms:

Winter-blooming germander from BSN. I’ve been admiring some blooming almost constantly in a limestone retaining wall by Town Lake, but the guy I talked to at BSN said that they need excellent drainage and tend to up and die suddenly, so I’m crossing my fingers and trying it anyway since it’s one of the few things that blooms all winter in Austin. I worked a lot of rose soil into the hole before planting to make sure the drainage would be decent, since the rose soil I had on hand has decomposed granite in it to aid drainage.

Since the weather’s been really warm all week, the pansies are going to seed:

Alyssum in a pot. It smells sunny and sweet.

The coralberry is leafing out again. Time to cut it back, I’m thinking.

Chimera Crochet – thank you! I wish I had a better camera so my pictures would turn out the way I want, but I’m pretty satisfied with this set. I was experimenting with the flower macro setting. By the way, I like the crochet projects on your blog– very cute and witty. 🙂

Thanks for joining us for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. I love the panises and violas and can’t wait to buy some in another month or so for my own garden, maybe in time for the next bloom day in March.Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Pam, I really love germander as well, but I haven’t had any luck with the regular kind. If I remember correctly, I killed three gallon-sized bush germander last summer, but it was a wet summer and I think they also got shaded out by the bamboo muhly. I’d be tempted to try it again, but I’ve filled the rest of the border’s sunny spots with roses.My fingers are crossed for this winter-flowering variety.

I like your corralberry – I bought one last year but forgot about it and it died in the pot before I could plant it. It was one of the last purchases of the season in the fall and fell between the cracks of Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday mayhem! How big does yours get and how much sun does it get?

Diana– All three of my coralberries are only a year old, so it’s hard for me to say how big they’re going to get, as they’ve all been pruned as they start butting in on other plants I like better, or unceremoniously ripped up and moved across the garden on a whim. I’d guess that the largest is almost two feet wide, and two are in part shade and one is in full shade. The one in the shade never produced berries, so I’m thinking I’m going to have to move it to more sun. Pam also mentioned in my first Bloom Day post that she’d had problems with her coralberry sending out shoots that rooted. I found this afternoon that I’m having the same thing happen. It’s a nice bush if you have space for it to ramble, but it tends to look a little weedy. That said, I do like its winter interest. Want me to save one of the rooting offshoots for you to try?